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The thing about lesbian films is that they usually are not great. They usually are not terrible, either. For whatever reason, be it a low budget or a lack of mainstream interest, lesbian films never seem to live up to their potential.

“I Can’t Think Straight,” a 2008 film starring Lisa Ray, as Tala and Sheetal Sheth as Leyla, is no exception. The film tells the story of Tala, a wealthy Jordanian woman who is preparing to wed her fourth fiancé, and Leyla, a British woman from a Muslim Indian family who is dating Tala’s best friend Ali.

The two women meet through Ali and become fast friends, eventually realizing that their relationship is more than just a friendship. Leyla’s younger sister becomes suspicious of Leyla’s relationship with Tala even before anything sexual happens between the two – Leyla’s love for Tala is obvious.

The two women must deal with various factors preventing them from being together openly: their male significant others and their parents, who obviously do not know their daughters are gay.

Since Leyla and Tala come from different backgrounds, they must deal with their families’ traditions and expectations in different ways. While a story of two ‘straight’ women falling for one another is nothing new in the world of lesbian cinema, Tala’s and Leyla’s backgrounds are what make this story unique.

“I Can’t Think Straight” has a lot of potential, but the film is not executed as well as it could have been. The lead actresses are great, but the acting from the supporting cast lacks realism. Leyla’s mother reads like a caricature of a British Indian woman, and Tala’s upper-class Middle Eastern family is equally outlandish. Also, the actress who plays Tala’s youngest sister Zina appears to be white, not Middle Eastern.

While there was nothing terribly wrong with “I Can’t Think Straight,” the film probably would have been better if it had a bigger budget. Most of the film’s shortcomings were obviously due to lack of resources. Despite the interesting story, the cinematography was cheesy at times, and the supporting cast was equally cheesy.